The Shadow Prophecy
by ghxstking
Summary: Nico di Angelo had been fighting monsters his entire life. However, nothing he had experienced from his father's world had ever prepared him for the strange letter that opened the door to his mother's legacy. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers wonders and dangers alike, but what can it offer to the son of a Greek god?
1. Prologue

There was a monster in Nico's closet again. He sighed in frustration as he heard the quiet scraping of claws against the flimsy wooden doors and the low growl that resonated in the dusty floorboards beneath his bare feet. It was bad enough that they seemed compelled to hunt down demigods such as himself, but did they really have to be so theatrical? Maybe it was some kind of sick joke that the creatures liked to play on unsuspecting children. After all, what parent would ever believe that their child's innocent nighttime fears actually had any basis to them?

It may have worked the first few times when he was younger, but he had learned by now. Sleeping on the floor denied them the novelty of hiding in the shadows under a bed. If they wanted to stick to stereotypes, that left them only one option.

The growling was growing louder now. Nico was sorely tempted to shush the thing as he went through his options. He could just rip to door open. That was always entertaining. While monsters could have many different faces and take on different forms, they showed a similar amount of shock in their eyes when they were unexpectedly confronted. It had always been great fun when Bianca handed him a knife and quietly crept over to place a hand on the doorknob, a finger over her playful smile when she suddenly yanked the door wide open to reveal whatever startled creature had dared to attack them in their home. It had been a game, an enjoyable pastime to distract them from their bigger troubles. Not that they could avoid them forever. Later events had been proof of that, but it had still been fun while it lasted.

Rolling his eyes at an even louder bout of growling, he pushed away his childhood memories and focused his attention on a shadowy corner to his right. It was only a small amount of darkness, a place where the light of the lamp he had placed on the other side of the room didn't quite reach. Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed it. However, he wasn't most people.

The shadows stirred, responding to his will. They twisted and stretched, reaching out to gently curl around his feet. While they moved into place, he reached under his shirt and carefully pulled out his sword. He had long ago gotten used to the feeling of cold steel against his skin, comforted by the thought of safety and security it provided. His weapon, his last gift from his sister, had saved him more times than he could count. It had also resulted in many small cuts along his torso, but that had taught him to be more cautious. Even when she wasn't here, Bianca still managed to hammer that message into his skull. Caution and awareness: only proceed when you knew what you were doing and had thought through your options. He had followed the rule. Now was the time to act. Gripping the handle tightly, he closed his eyes and fell into the awaiting grasp of the shadows beneath him.

Slipping through the inky blackness had always been a strange experience, but he was growing used to it. Shadows shifted and swirled around him, creating a disorienting and confusing world of darkness that seemed to want to swallow him whole and keep him there forever. The cool tendrils that brushed against him gently coaxed him to break his concentration and remain in a place that appeared to exist between reality and oblivion.

It used to terrify him. Being lost and alone, drifting around for all eternity, had been an image that had haunted him for much of his childhood. Even Bianca's reassurances had done little to console him. He supposed, at that time, it made sense. He hadn't mastered shadow traveling himself and had relied on Bianca's skills to transport him from one place to another. If he had ever let go of her hand, things could have ended very badly for him. Bianca had always told him that no one was quite sure what would happen if they got stuck in the shadows, but his imagination provided all the answers he could ever need. He didn't want to float through the endless void alone, forever doomed to simply exist in a world of darkness.

He was stronger now. The lingering fear would always whisper doubts somewhere in the back of his mind whenever he leapt into the shadows, but that just made him more cautious and alert. Even if the darkness shifted and moved of its own accord, he knew that he was in control as long as he remained focused. If he ignored any distractions and kept his desired location in mind, he was sure to make it there.

Silently returning to the world felt like surfacing from a cold pool. It may have been caused by his nerves, but shadow travel was usually accompanied with a tight feeling that made it harder to breath. However, he fought back the urge to gasp as his feet brushed against the edge of the shadows before him. Still partially submerged in darkness, he observed what he could of the monster that dared stalk him in his own home.

It was short, or possibly was staying low to the ground. It faced away from him, looking instead towards the door that supposedly stood in the way of the creature and its prey. Even though he couldn't see its face, he could see the long tail that twisted and thrashed to indicate the monster's agitation. The growling was clearer from his new vantage point than it had been before, allowing him to hear the quiet hissing that accompanied it.

A creature like this would have fuelled his worst nightmares when he was younger. His terrified screaming would have roused Bianca, who would have reminded him of the knife under his pillow and the sword that she kept next to her at all times. She would have told him not to be afraid because he was strong and she was there to fight with him. He would have gone back to sleep eventually, reassured by the fact that Bianca would always be there to keep him safe, that she would always fight to defend her little brother from the scary monsters in the night.

His mouth twisted into a smirk as he stepped out of the shadows, raising the dark blade silently over the unsuspecting creature's head. He was 11 years old, after all. He was no longer a timid little boy who was afraid of the monsters lurking in the dark. It was time the monsters learned to fear _him_.


	2. Chapter 1

**My sincerest apologies for taking so ridiculously long to finish this. I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter, but for some reason the ideas in my head and the words on the page were not cooperating at all. This attempt was the closest to what I was going for, so I'm sticking with it.**

 **S.J Spencers: Thank you for catching my stupid mistake. My spelling skills are nonexistent lol. I guess that just proves that I need to find a beta at some point. You should totally write whatever you had in mind too! I'm more of a fanfiction reader than a writer, and I'm always on the hunt for new stories, especially Harry Potter and Percy Jackson things.**

 **errydaymPurple: Thank you so much! As you can probably tell, this will be very slow going, but I will try to keep providing content.**

 **LadyMuis: Ooh I recommend that you read the rest of the series! I'm not a big fan of Heroes of Olympus, but I really enjoyed the earlier books as well as the Kane Chronicles (I haven't read any other Riordan books yet, but they are on my reading list!) I figured that this particular fic needed a bit of an introduction to Nico since I have messed with his canon timeline quite a bit. However, I am trying to stay as true as I can to his personality (as much as I can, anyway.) It's been a while since I've read anything for the series other than fanfiction. I hope fanon traits aren't clouding my memories too much!**

* * *

While the night provided its challenges, Nico preferred it to the day. Sunrise always found him grumpily curled in a ball under a wad of blankets, groggily cursing Apollo for being an obnoxious prick. Even if it was cloudy, which it usually was in England, it was still impossible to ignore the shift from a dark grey, almost black sky to a much brighter grey sky, especially when you were a son of Hades whose eyes were meant to see in the dark. Even a gloomy day could be blinding. He could attempt to roll over and return to the realm of sleep, but his efforts were futile. He had discovered this on his first day alone. Once he was aware of the overwhelming silence that greeted him every morning, he knew that he had no hope of sleeping any longer.

Realizing that his plan to ignore the day and simply sleep through his responsibilities had once again been foiled, he let out a long, overly dramatic sigh and threw his blanket to the side. The inevitable regret almost immediately crashed down on him when he registered how cold the world outside his small bubble of body heat really was. He mentally berated himself for not learning after repeating the same process every morning and cursed under his breath as he reclaimed his discarded blanket. After throwing it over his shoulders and loosely tying the corners together under his chin to create a cape, he shuffled out of his room.

Despite the grimy and cluttered state of the majority of his current residence, it was still fairly easy for him to stumble through the filthy belongings of the previous owners. Not even the length of material trailing behind him managed to snag anything and bring the whole mess crashing down around him. Even if a place seemed quite thoroughly abandoned, it was always best to leave everything as he had found it. You never knew who or what might stumble upon his sanctuary and have a look around. It was hard enough avoiding unwanted attention when he went outside. Leaving obvious traces where he lived was just asking for trouble.

Nico made his way to the front door and stared at in contemplation. Was it worth going out to get supplies? The whole process of leaving and returning to his little safe haven was always a mildly terrifying hassle. Small creatures were able to slip into the house on occasion, but the real dangers dwelled outside, lurking just beyond the property's edge. That was where large beasts waited for him to emerge, claws and teeth itching to dig into his flesh the moment he let his guard down. That was where the prying eyes of gods could recognize him for what he was and end his life with barely a thought. Past that flimsy wooden barrier, nowhere was safe.

Everything would have been fine if he could have drawn on his inherited skillset, but things could never be that easy. Despite the inherent danger and the alarmingly quick depletion of energy if he went too far, shadow travel was a handy trick that he wished he could use more often. Unfortunately, for reasons that he had never been able to fully grasp, his home limited that particular ability. There was no problem with jumping from one room to another. It was also fairly simple to get from place to place once he was outside, so long as the distance wasn't great enough to be overly taxing. It was traveling between the two that was somehow proving to be impossible. He hadn't really had the time or the energy to figure out why that was, but it frustrated him to no end and made thing so much more difficult than they had to be. If the shadows would actually cooperate for once, then maybe he wouldn't have to face this sort of daily debate over whether or not he wanted to risk going out to get food.

It didn't look too awful today, he decided as he pulled the dilapidated curtains on the window next to the door back just enough to peak out at the world. From his vantage point, there was only one creature pacing at the property line. Despite the size of the beast, it was actually quite good. Definitely much better than what he was faced with most mornings. If he was careful, he might actually make it out without getting into a fight. Wouldn't that be grand?

It was decided, then. Nico sighed as he let his blanket fall to the ground, shivering from the cold and anticipation alike. There was something about knowing that you were running headfirst into danger that left him feeling something between dread and excitement. It wasn't that he looked forward to doing things that were obviously detrimental to his physical well-being, but the rush that came with those actions was certainly a thrill and a half. Things were especially interesting when he refused to let himself overthink the problem and charged straight into perilous situations before he could change his mind, much like he was planning on doing right now.

There were two very simple steps to his sporadic bids for freedom: get out the door and run like hell. Sometimes (most of the time) a third step involving fighting for his life was added into the mix, but he was determined to skip it today. He was already off to a good start with the door still rattling on its hinges from the force he had used to yank it open and slam it closed behind him. Now all there was left to do was sprint as fast as his legs could carry him and aim for a shaded area that was conveniently monster free.

A thundering roar from somewhere to his left told him that he had been spotted, but Nico kept his sights set on his escape, a savior in the form of the shadow of a tree. He had used it before, so he knew that it was just outside the range of whatever messed with his shadow traveling abilities. All he needed to do was get there first.

His own heavy footsteps were quickly drowned out by the stomping of large paws as both he and the monster raced for the tree. He knew that he could make it. He was so close already, the image of the grocer's a few towns over that he frequented cemented in his mind to ensure that he was in control of his destination.

Ten steps. Five. Then one more and…

A roar echoed in his ears as his foot met the darkened patch of grass and he sank into the welcome, cold grasp of shadows.

* * *

The manticore let out a scream of rage when its prey disappeared from beneath its paw. The demigod was a slippery one and very capable of defending himself, but the sheer amount of power he held made him irresistible. It was very tempted to wait for the boy to appear again, despite not knowing if he was ever coming back. However, something about this particular location seemed off. A feeling of malice that even the vicious beast couldn't shake off hung in the air. It had never felt anything like it, and it wasn't willing to risk discovering the source. Reluctantly, the monster left without its prey.

Unnoticed by both monster and boy, nestled within the safety of the tree's twisted branches, sat an alarmed and very put-out observer. They had only been trying to complete their assigned task and return home. They had never been told that they would be kept from doing so by a strange, dark barrier, or that they would nearly be assaulted by a highly dangerous creature! There was obviously much more going on here than what they had ever faced before. As much as it hurt their pride to admit it, they needed to be replaced by someone who was more equipped to handle this situation.

With a frustrated screech, a tawny owl leapt from its perch and flew back from whence it came, dropping an envelope into a pile of many just like it hidden within the protruding roots.


End file.
